Sickness Shows Us What We Are
by TaintedPerspective
Summary: At the beginning of the summer, Annabeth is under the impression it might turn out relatively normal. But when Percy falls mysteriously ill, she must travel to the Underworld and seek out a dangerous goddess in order to save him. Takes place after Last Olympian.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is done for pure entertainment reasons. I am in no way affiliated with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Rick Riordan, or Hyperion Books publishing.

As she stood atop the hill next to the large pine, she contemplated the summer before her recently finished school year. Almost one year following the second Titan war, she was still in disbelief. After years of anticipation and anxiety, it was still hard to admit it was _over._ Everything the small group of demigods had gone through was sometimes still overwhelming to think about. She contemplated how different Camp Half-Blood looked. It wasn't actually so much the establishment (although one could distinguish new cabins for the minor gods in the distance), but the _people_.

_How happy they look, _she noticed. Many "veterans" of the war looked a little stressed, but relieved. Most were unpacking their belongings or helping new, smaller children get settled. And they all seemed very content, regardless of the few fights that had broken out because of stolen or misplaced objects. No more were frantic demigods scurrying around the grounds, struggling to get ready for what they thought could very well be their impending doom. She blinked hard. That was the most difficult part of the aftermath of the battle. The lives lost.

_Silena,_ she thought. _Michael, Beckendorf._

_Luke._

Her heart clenched painfully at the name.

"Annabeth!"

She was broken out of her memories. A blond boy of fifteen was waving to her from the bottom of the hill. There was a huge smile plastered to his face. She shook her head back and forth to clear it.

"Malcolm!" she cried. She skipped down the hill to where her sibling, or half-sibling, was standing and gave him a firm welcoming hug. "How's camp?"

He looked indignant. "What, no 'What's up?' No 'How ya doing?'" he pouted.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and gave a short chuckle. "And how _are _you, Malcolm?"

"Great," he replied, "Though camp's been kinda busy." He gestured in the direction of the cabins. "We finished those cabins you wanted us to build since Christmas. They're pretty cool… besides the Hades one. That's just creepy."

Annabeth gave a grin, "Good," she breathed, "I was so worried you guys would mess them up if I wasn't there every second watching."

"We probably would've if your plans hadn't been so detailed about everything." He stretched his arms above his head.

"We've got a whole bunch of new campers, and more on the way, but I'll fill you in later. Let me carry something. That bag looks heavy."

"Thanks," Annabeth said gratefully as she slipped off the shoulder bag and began to walk in the direction of her cabin. "So, is Percy here yet?"

"Ah," Malcolm said slyly, "Can't wait to go off and make out with your new boyfriend, huh?"

Annabeth blushed furiously and punched him in the arm, even though she couldn't really disagree. She'd missed her newly attained boyfriend the past few months. They had barely had a chance to talk the past school year, despite Iris messaging whenever they could.

"No, I just- well, he said he was coming to camp this week and-"

He cut her off. "Annabeth, relax. Slow down. He'll be coming soon, I'm sure. In fact," he grinned triumphantly, "I think Chiron might have mentioned something about him arriving tomorrow."

Annabeth held back a squeak of pleasure while her smile stretched across her face. But before she could reply, a little boy dashed up to Malcolm, maybe eight years old. He had a tangled mop of light-colored hair and a splash of brown freckles across his nose and cheeks. In his hands, he held several small items- a toothbrush, tiny tube of toothpaste, hairbrush, etc.

"Malcolm," he said impatiently, looking up at the older boy, "you never showed me where to put this stuff before."

Malcolm examined the child a moment, then dropped the girl's bag to his feet. "Okay, Patrick, I'm coming. Oh, and by the way," he stepped back and motioned toward Annabeth. "Annabeth, this is Patrick, a new half-brother of ours. I've been showing him around. Patrick, this is an old friend of mine, Annabeth. She's the leader of Cabin six."

Patrick looked at Annabeth as if he was just first noticing her presence. His eyes got wide. Annabeth could now tell he was most certainly a child of Athena. She observed the trademark grey eyes under slightly curled blond hair.

"Hi," he said quickly.

"Hello," she stuck out her hand for him to shake. He either didn't notice it or ignored it, because he continued to look only at her face.

"Did you- you fought in the war too, didn't you?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah," Annabeth responded. _Smart kid. Definitely an Athena child._

"Alright, alright," Malcolm interjected before Patrick could attempt to interrogate the girl any more. "You've been introduced. Now, how about I help you out?" He started to walk away, the young boy at his heels.

Annabeth piped up, "I can do that for you, Malcolm. All I have to do is unpack-"

But she was interrupted once more. "No," he said strictly, "You just got here. Rest a little. Don't tell me you're not tired from flying all the way from San Francisco. I'll meet up with you later." And with that the two walked away. Malcolm had one hand on Patrick's upper back, another in the air, waving backwards in farewell.

"Fine," she huffed softly to their backs, and proceeded into the Athena cabin. Secretly, she was a little bit thankful for the alone time she could spend unwinding and adjusting back to the camp routine.

Her cabin was exactly what she remembered it looking like, albeit a bit dusty. Her bed was made, her work desk clear of clutter (excluding the blueprints she had left for the campers to complete new cabins), and the laptop with a Greek Delta sitting unopened on her bedside table. One thing you could always count on in the Athena cabin was no one touches your possessions. Well, as long as you didn't rearrange any of their stuff, you should be okay. Annabeth deemed it as a kind of unspoken rule everyone obeyed.

She was extremely glad of this at the end of last summer. Her only small carry-on suitcase for heading home had been completely filled to the brim. It had been difficult to leave the computer behind, but she confided in herself it would be safer here at camp. What use did she have it at home for, anyways? _To prevent boredom,_ she thought to herself gloomily.

Happy to see the gift from Deadalus, she wiped the dust off the front to admire it, and jumped on her bunk bed with her case. She slowly began taking each neatly folded item out. There, in between the scraps of clothing was a small square piece of paper. A picture.

A picture Annabeth held dear to her heart. It showed her, Percy, Grover, Clarisse, and a handful of others that had made it back to Camp Half-Blood soon after the final battle on Olympus. Obviously, nobody had had time to shower yet, because mostly everyone was covered in dirt and grime. Percy and her were standing side by side, with both sadness and contentment in their expressions. Of course, Percy looked more tired than the rest, but he _did_ have the curse of Achilles to deal with, plus he just finished fighting a Titan lord earlier that day.

She propped the photo on her work desk, put the rest remainder of her things away, and sprinted outside in the direction of the Big House.

**A/N- Hello. This is my first story. I decided to post this after contemplating long and hard about it, in honor of the new preview trailer out for Percy Jackson I discovered just today. Reviews are extremely appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is done for pure entertainment reasons. I am in no way affiliated with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Rick Riordan, or Hyperion Books publishing.

"Chiron!"

The centaur was standing in full horse form in the doorway of the Big House. He had a big black bag slung over his back. Lounging on a stiff, uncomfortable looking chair was Mr. D., wearing a Hawaiian pineapple green and yellow print shirt. Chiron himself had on a simple blue T-shirt with a silhouette of a centaur aiming an arrow.

He glanced down in her direction. "Annabeth, my dear, it's so good to see you."

"Good to see you, too, Chiron. Hello Mr. D.," she added with a respective nod of the head, who really didn't seem to care anyhow, then turned back to her mentor.

"Chiron, I wanted to see you to find out if we could talk about the rest of the building plans. You see, I was thinking we could use the other field to put up a new archery space, or maybe another sword fighting arena. I mean, since the gods are giving us free materials to use for the reconstruction, anyway,-"

Chiron smiled and tilted his head as if he'd heard the girl ramble on like this too many times before.

"Annabeth, child, hush. We _will_ discuss the building procedure, but tomorrow, perhaps. For now, I am only glad you've not been eaten by Hellhounds the past months."

She smiled.

"What's that?" she observed the large bag.

Chiron moved it so it sat on the ground between them. "Tennis balls," he answered. Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why do we need tennis balls?"

Chiron's eyes twinkled. "Just come to Archery tomorrow and you will see. Which reminds me, could be so kind as to deliver these down to the shed by the amphitheatre? I have to call the campers for dinner."

"Sure." She nodded. Lifting the sack, she stepped cautiously down toward the amphitheatre.

The old wooden shed was masked in cobwebs and vines. She dropped the bag down by the door just as she heard the conch horn sound. She was about to turn to go when a rustling branch caught her eye.

Annabeth whipped around. A twig snapped. She drew her knife.

_No one should be down here. They're all at dinner. _ "Who's there?" she called fiercely.

"It's me! It's just me!"

Annabeth drew back, then moved forward to lend a hand to the boy stumbling through the brush. He wore an army green tee-shirt and faded blue jeans. All his clothing had holes and scratches across them. He was muttering angrily to himself about shadow traveling and young Hellhounds.

"Nico, what are you doing here?"

The son of Hades removed a few twigs and leaves from his hair. "Well, I'm here for the summer."

Annabeth stopped dead in her tracks. Nico didn't seem like the type who would enjoy the social atmosphere of Camp Half-Blood. He even turned down the invitation Percy sent asking him if he wanted to come near the end of last summer.

"Uh, wow…. Seriously?"

Nico straightened. Lifting an eyebrow, he asked, "Yeah, is that so surprising?"

"No, I just, well, I thought you were down in the Underworld doing some work for your father."

"I was," he told her bluntly, "but he told me to come here." He shrugged. "So here I am."

"For the entire summer?"

"Yeah." Annabeth blinked. Then stood up straight and regained her composure.

"Well, I suppose we better inform Chiron. He'll want to know we've got another Camper to house."

* * *

Annabeth and Nico were both late for dinner. Annabeth sat at the Athena table while Chiron formerly introduced a slightly pink Nico. _I guess he doesn't like being the center of attention,_ Annabeth thought. In truth, many other people were surprised a child of Hades at the Camp, considering there hadn't been one in over a century.

All throughout the meal Annabeth talked amidst her cabin mates, mostly catching up with each other, laughing at jokes and stories. Malcolm was there, along with Partick, who wasn't actually doing much talking, but more or less devouring anything he could get his chubby hands on. She wanted to focus on her friends and the food, but her eyes betrayed her.

In spite of seeing the Poseidon table empty for her first five years at Camp, it still seemed strange that a little black haired boy (even though he wasn't so little anymore) wasn't sitting on a bench chowing down on some cheese and olive pizza.

It was getting dark. As she finished off her barbeque, Annabeth sighed and stood to follow the congregation in the direction of the campfire.

She nearly screamed when a pair of strong arms grabbed her around her middle.

"Miss me?"

Annabeth turned, eyes wide and heart racing in delight. Staring back were two deep, sea green eyes, which were smiling themselves in what looked like amusement. They never fell short of completely captivating her. She threw herself to him in an enormous hug.

"Seaweed Brain, you're here!"

She backed up, then gave him a smack on the chest that he really didn't feel. "Don't surprise me like that! And why are you hear now, especially at this hour? I heard you were coming tomorrow!"

Percy smiled crookedly and raised an eyebrow. "Do want me to come back tomorrow? Because I can go back for tonight and sleep past the borders-"

"Oh, shut up and stop being difficult," she giggled. She planned to place a small peck on his lips and maybe save the real kissing for a better, more comfortable, more private time, but no such luck.

Percy dragged her flatly against his own body while wrapping both arms around her waist securely, pressing their mouths together in a fierce embrace. He squeezed her and breathed out a husky, "I missed you."

Annabeth rested her forehead on his and panted.

"I missed you, too."

"A-hem!"

Connor Stoll, who was grinning smugly, interrupted their moment, "I know you guys just met up, but please, let's save that for later in a secluded cabin, shall we?"

Annabeth flushed madly. Percy just laughed, "Go ahead to the sing-a-long, Wise Girl. I'll see you later."

"You're not coming?" She turned to him, slightly confused.

"Naw," he let out a long yawn, "I've had a long day. I think I'll just go back to my cabin."

Annabeth sighed, a little put out. "Okay, I guess. 'Night, Seaweed Brain. Sleep well."

Percy smiled wearily. She gave him a brief kiss on the cheek and another smile before turning in the other direction.

**A/N- Thank you all who reviewed/favorited/story alerted this! It means a lot I have even a few people out there who want to see where this story goes. I will try to make the plot line totally original. I really believe it will be.**

**The plot will pick up a bit, I promise. Sorry if you think the beginning is too long. Personally, I normally don't like stories that rush straight into the plot.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is done for pure entertainment reasons. I am in no way affiliated with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Rick Riordan, or Hyperion Books.

Annabeth marched down to the cabins. She had a bow slung over her shoulders and a quiver of arrows hanging from her back, signaling her archery class had just finished. Chiron had the campers shoot from different distances at tennis balls. It was a fun, challenging, change and most of her cabin mates agreed. At first, Annabeth couldn't get a hit in edgewise at the green balls, prompting a few laughs. But by the end of the lesson, she managed to get a couple good shots.

The day was bright and sunny, with campers scattered all over Camp, enjoying the warm, early summer air. Even Nico had come from the indoors to take a walk around the lake. Everybody was outside. Well, everybody except one.

"Percy Jackson!"

She banged hard on the door to Cabin three. There was no answer. She tried yelling again.

"Percy, get out here! It's nearly noon!"

There was a moan and soft rustling of fabric from behind the wall. She thought she might have heard something tip over. Seconds later, a disheveled Percy Jackson appeared. His unruly hair stuck straight up on one side like he'd been styling it purposely that way with hair gel. His eyes drooped and he was wearing pale blue pajama bottoms with an old white T-shirt. He tried to focus his eyes and blinked rapidly around at the light.

She also noticed his eyes were bloodshot. She contributed it to him just waking up.

"Whazzrong?"

Annabeth looked over him incredulously. "You're not up _yet?_ It's almost lunchtime!"

Percy swayed on his feet and yawned. Ignoring Annabeth's incessant nagging (or as he called it), he stumbled back into the shadows of his cabin to his bed. He fell on top with a muted _thrump_. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be out soon."

"Percy, come _on_!" she pleaded. He buried his head beneath a pillow. "Will you stop being impossible?!"

"Mrff…"

Annabeth bit her lip and tried the most direct solution. She pushed and shoved, pulled off the covers and shook his pillow, but no good fortune came her way. She exhaled noisily, thinking of how in Hades she was going to get a stubborn, invulnerable teen out of bed. Percy showed off most of invulnerability when he was only half-awake. A thought occurred to her: sure, he was invincible, but Percy was still a male adolescent.

Annabeth squatted at the head of the bed so her head was level with Percy's. A small bit of skin on his neck was exposed. She smirked.

"Percy..." she called softly, and moved in to the patch of skin, nuzzling it tenderly. He recoiled from the embrace and got goose bumps up and down his arms. Annabeth disregarded this and ran her fingers through his tangled hair.

"You have to be up by tonight at least," she murmured.

A strange noise came from the edge of the pillow that sounded close to "Why?"

"Because," she continued suggestively, her breath caressing his ear "if we win the game tonight, I might be in the mood to give a _special_ reward to a certain boyfriend of mine."

She knew he couldn't resist a good make-out session, particularly when he'd been deprived of them for a long while. Annabeth sat straight up and turned her back on Percy.

"But I guess that won't happen seeing as that certain boy can't be bothered with getting out of bed, so-"

She felt something warm enclose around her wrist. Percy was sitting up, staring at her with a hungry expression in his eyes. He leaned back on one hand, the other on her arm. "I'm holding you to that, you know."

She looked down with the tiniest grin and replied, "And I wouldn't have it any other way." She stood.

"I'll meet you at the dining pavilion in ten minutes. I want to go over the plan for Capture the Flag for tonight with Jill."

She set off away from the cabin. Within minutes, she was tackled in a hug by a large pink blur. Annabeth fell on her rear to find a fifteen year-old girl sitting beside her, knocked down by her own power. She was dressed in a bright pink top, with matching pink leggings that went down a little past her knees. She had on a plaid black and pink short skirt on over top. She also wore a little pink bow in her short-trimmed hair, and a few big beaded plastic necklaces as accessories. She straightened and beamed downwards.

"Oh, Annabeth, it's been so_ long_!"

"Jill, I was just coming to find you, and I talked to you last week. In fact, _you_ were the one that Iris messaged _me_."

"Yeah, but it _feels_ like forever!" She had on a big goofy smile that matched her personality. Jill was a daughter of Zelus, God of zeal. And she definitely had some of that passed on to her. It was hard not to be cheerful when Jill was around, especially when she practically radiated enthusiasm, but she didn't always.

Four years ago, she'd been claimed by her father, but had had nowhere to go. There were no places for children of the minor gods to go back then. Forced to stay in the Hermes cabin, she was angered, and held a deep resentment for the gods. Then again, Zelus also governed the emotions of rivalry, envy and jealousy. It was Annabeth who had helped the girl out of those depressing times. Annabeth shuddered at what could have happened to her, if she had followed Luke's path. Since that time, the two had been good friends.

"Look at all of these," she commented on the necklaces. Some of them hung down all the way to her waist. "My mom bought me this big jewelry making kit- I've been making so many, I'm almost out of beads. Go figure!"

Annabeth laughed along with her friend. Jill was a little fickle when it came to her hobbies. Her short obsessions changed weekly it seemed. One day, baseball, the next, stamp collecting. Her current passion? Beading.

"Well, promise me you'll take them off before the game tonight. I don't want you caught on any branches or something. Speaking of which…"

She explained the plan of action for their team. Athena, Demeter, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Hades, and every minor god cabin were with on one side. It wasn't extremely strong considering they were going against a couple big fighters, like Ares and Apollo. Annabeth planned to go heavy on the defense. Demeter would guard the flag, placed again as usual at the top of Zeus's Fist. Thorns, poison ivy, killer vines, whatever they could do from the ground. Aphrodite would be there, too, whether they wanted to or not. Half of the Athena cabin would stay with them.

The other half would go with some of the minor god's children in the first wave of attack, mostly to distract them so Percy and Nico could have a chance to edge their way in a wide circle in order to surprise them from behind, get the flag and run. Hopefully, that would be enough to win the game. If not, there were always a few extra people to launch another assault.

Jill giggled mischievously once the other girl finished. "That's foolproof!"

"It's a plan," Annabeth remarked, "worthy of Athena."

* * *

Annabeth kicked out the legs of a Hephaestus boy and looked around livid at Nico.

"You did _what?"_

"Hey, it's not my fault!" The son of Hades knocked an Ares kid in the head with the hilt of his sword.

"We were ambushed, and Percy told _me_ to deal with them while he kept going! Besides, he's not completely helpless. He can take care of himself."

"I know that!" Annabeth yelled over a battle cry, "It's the principle of the thing!"

"Look, we were pretty close to their flag when we split up. Chances are he's already got it and is heading back right now."

As it turned out, Percy did not have the flag at that moment. Nor did he have it ten minutes from that moment, or thirty minutes from then when a daughter of Hermes jumped the boundary line to enemy territory with their team's flag. This is how Annabeth found herself, nearly an hour following the end of the game, searching frantically for her stupid, kelp head of a boyfriend. Several campers followed including Nico, and Chiron.

"Here! He's over here! I've found him!"

Annabeth raced toward the voice. Percy was laying on his back in a tiny clearing off close to the edge of the wood. His limbs were eagle-spread in funny angles. His eyes were closed.

She dashed past the Hecate child who had discovered him straight to his side, eyes wide in alarm. She whipped out a baggie of ambrosia squares, just in case, but he didn't seem to really need it. Not a scratch could be seen on his body. His breathing was normal, and there were no signs of a struggle present. If anything, the only differences Annabeth could distinguish were his sweating face and pale skin.

"What happened?" Chiron asked urgently. More people followed him into the clearing from behind.

A daughter of Apollo, Callie, knelt beside Annabeth. She pressed a finger against his neck to check his pulse. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"I don't get it. He's just… asleep."

"What? He can't just be _asleep,"_ Annabeth exclaimed, appalled. "Something must have happened to him. People don't just _decide_ to take a nap in the middle of Capture the Flag!"

No one responded to her statement, although Chiron looked troubled. She resolved to try to awaken the dozing boy.

"Percy, wake up. C'mon, Seaweed Brain, get up! This is the _second_ time today!"

She slapped his cheek multiple times, more frustrated with the situation than with her boyfriend now. Percy stirred, wearily moaning out nonsense for a few seconds. He raised his torso into a sitting position. His eyes were still red.

"Wise Girl?"

While he rubbed his head, Chiron took it upon himself to lift the boy to his feet. This ended up not being the best idea. Immediately, Percy wobbled unsteadily. Annabeth and Callie moved to provide support around his waist and under his arms. He stumbled back, breaking out in a cold sweat. His gasps grew rapid.

"Girls, quickly, give him here," Chiron said urgently. "We'll get him to the infirmary. Annabeth, bring the ambrosia."

_Well, _Annabeth thought, _he won't be getting that reward tonight._

**A/N- I have gotten so many positive reviews on this story! Thank you so much! Please inform me of any errors or typos you see. There shouldn't be too many, but then again I'm awful at spotting mistakes. Help!  
**

**This has not been my favorite chapter so far. Percy only had like, three lines. But then again he was asleep for the most part, and he's not the main character in this story. Oh well. More in the next chapter, perhaps.  
**

**Please review if you have any questions or comments!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is done for pure entertainment reasons. I am in no way affiliated with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Rick Riordan, or Hyperion Books publishing.

Her arms extended downwards at her side stiffly while she gazed at the blank white wall ahead of her. Both hands were in fists. Annabeth rubbed her thumbnail against her tightly curled index finger on her right hand repeatedly, irritating the skin.

It was a tick.

Chiron always warned her never to develop a tick. Ticks were small, dodgy little movements that usually came up unwanted of their own accord. If an opponent was to watch you long enough, they could easily pick up on it. It was better if you were hard to read. A tick was like a bright, vibrant poster that screamed to all enemies, "I'm anxious!" "I'm nervous!" "I'm tense!"

Annabeth was aware of this, but she figured she had good reason to be worried. Percy, that idiot, that adorably stupid kelp-head was behind that door, suffering from only the gods'-know-what malady. She had wanted to go in with him. In fact, Annabeth believed she put up a right fierce fight at the time Callie insisted she wait outside the doors for her response on his examination. She had argued at first, but eventually gave in to her and Chiron's orders, and was beginning to regret it.

She ground her teeth together, for not the first time, mulling over how long it would take to bust through a solid, wooden, locked door, handling only a dagger and your bare hands. She was not given a chance to act on her thoughts, however, as Chiron trotted out from the room, gazing at the battered hard wood floor. Callie followed close behind.

Annabeth's frantic eyes danced from one person to the other. Her brow furrowed. "Well?" she questioned impatiently, "What's wrong?"

Her teacher and friend both chanced a glance in each other's direction before donning apologetic expressions. "We don't know."

Annabeth frowned, suddenly confused. Her eyes hardened. "What do you mean, '_We don't know?'_" Gods, how she hated it when people were so vague she couldn't figure out what they meant.

Callie shrugged, staring off to her right in thought. "It just seems like he was exhausted. That's all." She looked unblinkingly at Annabeth. "There's nothing physically wrong," she replied.

Annabeth was confused. Nothing physically wrong? Then maybe mentally wrong? Or emotionally? But it still didn't quite fit. Seaweed Brain hadn't acted any different, or looked down the last time she saw him fully conscious. _But I would have noticed a change in him, _she reasoned, _I'm sure of that. _Perhaps Percy had too much stress the latest school year and his body was just resting it off.

"But what about the breathing and high temperature?" she questioned fretfully.

"Most I can find is he was a little overheated. Nothing life threatening."

"Maybe it would help if we could possibly discuss this in a more comfortable place. How about over some hot chocolate in the rec room?" said Chiron while he stepped forward and rested his palm on Annabeth's shoulder. His feeble attempt at lightening the depressing mood of the trio was lost in the long pause that followed. Finally, slowly, Annabeth raised her eyes to his.

"Can I see him?"

Chiron smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkling merrily. "Of course, dear."

Callie opened the door for the blonde and spoke softly, as not to disturb the patient in question, "We'll keep him here, just for tonight. Hopefully he will get up and be able to move from here of his own accord in the morning."

The room was plain and clean. One simple window overlooked the woods in the direction of the amphitheater, but the blinds covered the view for now. A mosquito was hovering against the wall lazily by the window. Annabeth stumbled through the five paces before she reached the bedside chair. Percy had been laid down atop the bed, sleeping like a rock. She almost laughed at the now very frequent sight. Almost.

Instead, she gave a heavy, discontented sigh. The feeling she had now was reflective of the sensation she had had two years ago, during the two weeks Percy was gone from Camp. The lonely, chilling emptiness that made her think that something bright and shining and happy in her life had been snuffed out. Her hand raked backwards through unbrushed hair, dull eyes shut.

"How did this happen?"

"Annabeth, we've gone through nearly all the possibilities, we still don't-"

Annabeth twisted around to face Chiron faster than an Aphrodite girl would to snatch a free pair of Gucci shoes, her fist curled even tighter than before.

"No, listen to me. Look, last year, Percy bathed in the River Styx, and he came back out alive, correct? And then he went on to battle Kronos, etcetera, etcetera, right?" She waited for the nods of the heads before her.

"So consequently, he took on the Curse of Achilles, _right?_" Chiron's face fell, as if he knew exactly what was coming next. Callie leaned against the blank wall with her arms crossed defensively in front of her.

"And this 'curse' is supposed to be helping him, not driving him into a weaker state! It's even said to hold off common illnesses like the flu and strep throat! So tell me, how in the world did it come to _this?_"

Annabeth drew in deep breaths, silently counting to ten, struggling to keep her temper under control. She suddenly had the urge to slap the buzzing mosquito.

Chiron shifted his weight, noticing the ever-ticking clock high on the wall mark off the minutes and seconds.

"Because maybe you can't always count on the curse to save him."

Annabeth did a double take. In the shadows of the doorway stood Nico, who was currently supporting his weight against the doorframe. Now noticeable, he stepped out from his hiding place. _How strange, _Annabeth thought, _I could have sworn he'd already gone back to his cabin. _She didn't linger on the idea.

Craning her neck to see better, eyebrows furrowed, Callie questioned, "What do you mean?"

The boy didn't look at her, only at Chiron, who seemed relatively unfazed at Nico's sudden appearing act.

"The River Styx. It's not the same."

**A/N- I apologize to every reader of this story. I don't suppose I have a real excuse for the extreme lateness. I won't lie to you guys - you don't deserve to be lied to. The truth is, I lost interest. I found other fandoms and just got off my PJO hype. Fortunately, I am glad to be announcing I will try to finish this story, and reviews help the inspiration so very much!**

**Once again, I'm sorry to you all for the inconvenience, but please, make an effort to be forgiving and write a review if you have a question or comment (especially about typos, I can't stand typos).  
**


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